Generally we avoid hot and spicy food for health reasons. And one and the foremost reason is that we tend to eat more when spicy food is served on the table and that eventually lead to weight gain. But hang on because a SPICY ingredient in your favourite curry could actually be the key to losing weight. This is what experts have claimed.

According to The Sun, researchers claim that the compound in chilli peppers, which gives you kick, is being used to develop an anti-obesity drug and it actually works.

According to researchers from the University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy, the ingredient "capsaicin" is the reason a vindaloo curry leaves you gasping for water, but it could also be a key ingredient in the fight against obesity. They have tested the compound on mice and found it does help with weight loss.

The molecule interacts with the peripheral part of our nervous system and is thought to have pain-reducing properties. Using the drug metabocin, which releases capsaicin slowly over 24 hours, researchers tested the impact of the spicy compound on mice fed a high-fat diet.

The study found mice lost body fat and improved overall health over a period of eight months with no side effects.

The capsaicin molecule has also been tested as a drug to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and is even thought to potentially stop breast cancer cells from multiplying. It's success in causing fat loss in mice could lead researchers to develop it into weight loss medication for humans.

But experts also warned the results don't mean people should start consuming large amounts of chilli. Spicy chillies aren't easily absorbed in the stomach, meaning the capsaicin they contain won't necessarily have the same effect as the drug.

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